Foldable warm air and steam bath assembly



Nov. 14, 1967 R. THONER 3,351,956

FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 9, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.7

' 77b 28 I 77b 12 Inventorl I6 27 Nov. 14, 1967 Q R 3,351,956

FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Filed NOW 9, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

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Inventor- EOberf 7728/7 Nov. 14, 1967 R. THONER 3,351,956

' FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 9, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor- 306 4- 735mm Nov. 14', 1967 R, TH NER 3,351,956

FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 9, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig-5 Inventor- KObu-f En R. THONER Nov. 14, 1967 FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY s Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Nov. 9, 1964 In vemor: Koberf 77; 3,,

Nov. 14,1967 R. THONER 3,351,956

FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Fil ed Nov 9. 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Fig.8

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Inventor- Nov. 14,1961 R #H NER 3,351,95

FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 9. 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 8' Fig, I]

Inventor:

obaf 72m United States Patent 3,351,956 FOLDABLE WARM AIR AND STEAM BATH ASSEMBLY Robert Thoner, Reicheubergerstrasse 18,

Bietigheim, Germany Filed Nov. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 409,646

Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 8, 1963,

T 25,034; July 18, 1964, T 26,617

15 Claims. (Cl. 4-160) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Collapsible sauna bath formed of hinged walls that can be erected to form a cabin or collapsed to form a portable unit with a pivoted adjustable seat carried by one side wall and including a heat and steam producer fixed to the back wall of the cabin beneath the seat, and further including a timer control for the heat and steam producer.

The present invention relates to a fol-dable warm air and steam bath assembly with electric heat and steam producing means.

Heretofore known devices of the above-mentioned type have the drawback that they require relatively considerable space when in folded condition.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a foldable warm air and steam bath assembly, which will overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

It is another object of this invention to provide a foldable warm air and steam bath assembly which, when in folded condition will require a minimum of storage space and can easily be transported.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a foldable warm air and steam bath assembly, which is of particularly simple construction and requires a minimum of parts to be manipulated for converting the device from its use position into its folded position.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an arrangement as set forth above which is resistant to stress and has a long life. I

Still another object of this invention consists in the provision of an arrangement as set forth in the preceding paragraphs, which is easily and conveniently operable and which is accident-proo It is also an object of this invention to provide a foldable warm air and steam bath assembly equipped with electric control means, which includes means adapted effectively to protect the electric control means against humidity and steam condensation as it is inherent in devices of the type involved.

A still further object of the present invention consists in the provision of an arrangement as set forth in the preceding paragraph, in which the electric control means can easily be observed and actuated by the user of the device without the user having to leave the cabin of the device.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the cabin of a steam bath assembly with a control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of FIG. 1 with outer wall of FIG. 1 partly broken away.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the cabin in folded condition.

FIG. 4 illustrates on a larger scale than the preceding figures a view of the control housing for the control device of a steam bath assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through the according to FIG. 4, said section being line V-V of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the control housing with a portion of the side wall partially shown in section.

FIG. 7 is an inside view of the control housing.

FIGS. 8 and 9 respectively represent a vertical section and a horizontal section through the control housing of a dilferent embodiment of a control device according to the invention. I

FIG. 10 is a modification of a steam bath assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates the switching of the electric heating device according to the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

-An important feature of the hot air and steam bath assembly according to the present invention consists in that the rear Wall and the side wall of the cabin are rigid and when in folded condition form a box of narrow rectangular cross-section in which the heat and steam producing elements and the seat for the occupant of the cabin are mounted. Furthermore, the side walls of the cabin may be composed of at least two sections extending over the side wall height. Furthermore, each side wall of the cabin may be composed of a front section and a rear section, and the rear section may be rigidly connected with the rear wall of the cabin and may be hingedly connected to the from section of the respective adjacent side wall. In addition thereto for covering the top side and front side of the cabin there may be provided a covering connected to the rear wall and side walls and made of a heat and humidity insulating soft material.

Steam bath assemblies of the type involved must have a high degree of safety in order to protect the user of the cabin against accidental switching operations or other accidental manipulations. This is important, above all, for the electric devices and switches which have to be protected against the influence of steam and liquid. Therefore, the present invention also comprises a control arrangement in which at least one manual switch for the heating circuit of the heat and steam producer and a timeswitch serially arranged with the main switch in the heating circuit is mounted in a common housing at the upper edge of the outside of the cabin. In this Way, all electric switches are combined and separated from the steam chamber while being easily accessible from the cabin outside or through a passage in the cabin. One embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the heating circuit comprises an additional safety switch by means of which a switching-on of the heating circuit is prevented when the device is collapsed and the folding seat occupies its ineffective position.

This device may be further improved by the provision of a safety breaker switch arranged together with the manual main switch and the time switch in a control housing common thereto. The control device may furthermore be so designed that a mechanical transfer member arranged in the control housing is in elfective connection with an actuating member for the safety switch. This transfer member is passed through the cabin wall and engages the tilting range of the folding seat. As mechanical transfer member there may be provided a pressure pin horizontally displaceably journalled in the cabin wall. That end of the pressure pin which extends into the inner chamber of the cabin is adapted to engage the folding seat when the latter occupies its folded up position.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the actuating member for the safety switch is by means of a pull-cord coupled to the folding seat. As pullcord may be employed a synthetic cord as, for instance, a nylon cord.

control housing taken along the Depending on the type of switch employed, it is also advantageous to couple the actuating member for the safety switch with the folding seat by means of a pushrod arranged in the hollow space between the double walls of the cabin.

With all embodiments referred to above, the actuating member for the safety switch and the transmission members for the seat may be so dimensioned and designed that the safety switch is automatically turned off when the seat leaves its entirely downwardly folded position. By an individual arrangement or combining the abovementioned features, it may automatically be brought about that the heating elements of the heat and steam producer cannot be moved into effective position when the cabin is folded, i.e. when the seat is in its folded-up position.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the hot air and steam bath assembly according to the present invention comprises a cabin composed primarily of side Walls 8 and 19 which, by means of hinges 22a (FIG. 3) are connected to the cabin rear wall 21. The inner cabin rear wall and both inner side walls are provided with hollow spaces 21a, 8a and 19a respectively and, furthermore, are covered on both sides by foils 23a effecting a good heat insulation and being of low weight. Thus, while the inside of the rear wall and side walls of the cabin may be covered with any suitable moisture impervious and heat resistant material, foils of polyvinyl chlo ride with additives preventing inflammation and especially with additives of metal powder resulting in reflection of heat radiation have proved highly satisfactory in this connection.

Furthermore the rear wall and side walls of the cabin may be made of any suitable substantially rigid material, but plywood covered with a foil of synthetic material, such as polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene with additives as mentioned above, has proved highly advantageous for this purpose.

Side walls 8 and 19 are adapted to be turned about said hinges 22a for folding the assembly together, as shown in FIG. 3. In this folded condition, the assembly forms a rather flat parallelepiped shaped box which receives all devices to be provided inside said cabin.

The front and upper edges of the side walls and the upper edge of the rear wall are interconnected by a covering 23 which has an upper passage or opening 25 (FIG.

1) for the head of the person in the cabin. This covering- 23 is subdivided from the top to the bottom by a substantially centrally arranged slide fastener 24.

According to the arrangement of FIG. 2, a foldable seat is provided inside the cabin and is connected to the inside surface of side wall 8 by means of joints 5a. Foldable seat 5 is shown in FIG. 2 in its operative position with the assembly in its mounted position. As will be evident from the drawing, seat 5 may be folded substantially parallel to side wall 8 when the assembly is in its folded together position shown in FIG. 3. Arranged below the foldable seat 5 and adjacent the cabin rear wall 21 is a heat and steam producer 16 which comprises primarily a container 27 for a liquid as, for instance water, two heating elements 12 and 13, and a sheet metal guiding member 17 which is arranged above said heating elements 12 and 13 and is tiltable about a horizontal axis. The depth of container 27 and of heating elements 12 and 13 is less than the width of the side wall sections 22. The tilting guiding member 17 is, through the intervention of a pullcord 15 connected with the side wall 8 and thus takes part in the tilting movement of said side wall when the assembly is being collapsed. If the assembly is folded together, the guiding member lies in front of the heating elements, thus completely preventing any movement thereof. The pull-cord 15 has one end fixed to the side wall 5 and its other end fixed to the guiding member 17. Therefore, guiding member 17 may have a greater width than the side wall sections 22 and may comparatively extend further below the seating suface. In this way, the rising steam or warm air flow moving upwardly from the heat and steam producer is deviated by the bottom side of the seat toward the front and to both sides and will substantially uniformly be distributed in the interior of the cabin. This effect is further aided by the roof-shaped design of guiding member 17, which design brings about a deviation of the rising air flow toward the side edges of folding seat 5.

The guiding plate which is tiltable about a horizontal axis 17a by means of hinges 17b at the cabin rear wall may preferably be made of heat resistant synthetic material, such as polyurethane.

One of the two heating elements Hand 13, viz. heating element 12, is immersed in the liquid container 27, whereas heating element 13 is arranged above the liquid level in container 27 and is located in the rising steam fiow. Both heating elements may by means of a control element or switch to be described later, form part of the heating circuit thereby selectively permitting an operation of the device with primarily steam or hot air developments or form the actuating members for two switches 1 and 14' respectively (FIG. 7) for the two heating elements 12,

and 13. Recessed in or inserted into the outside of control housing 3 is a knurled disc 9 a circumferential section of which protrudes from a recess of the top side of control housing 3 and has both end faces along its circumference provided with a time dia'l 10. This arrangement and the design of control housing 3 make it pos sible for the person in the cabin easily to reach the tipping levers 11 and 18 and the circumference of knurled disc 9. Moreover, time dials 10 of knurled disc 9 are easily readable from passage 25 and also from outside the cabin when viewing the side wall thereof. Thus, switches 1 and 14 with their levers 11 and 18 are also switch 2 (FIG. 7) arranged in control housing 3 and knurled disc 9 can easily be actuated and adjusted by the person in the cabin by partially opening slide fastener 24, without said person leaving the cabin.

As will be evident from FIGS. 4 and 7, control housing 3 additionally houses a safety switch 4. Safety switch 4 is together with the other switches serially arranged in the heating circuit so that switching-on and operation of the heating elements Will under all circumstances be dependent on or require a closing of safety switch 4. In the particular embodiment shown in the drawing, for purposes of reducing the danger of contacting voltages in case of defects, safety switch 4 is provided with two poles, and is inserted in both wires of the conductor for the heating current. Safety switch 4 is, for the sake of simplicity, composed of two one-pole switches with one push-button. 6 each. Furthermore, safety switch 4 is designed as a working switch, which means it closes its contacts in,

response to the actuation of push-buttons 6.

The purpose of safety switch 4 consists in switching off the heating elements when the side walls of the cabin have not been folded apart, in conformity with certain requirements, in other words, when the covering of the side walls is in such a position that it may be contacted by the heating elements and, therefore, may catch fire if the heating elements were in a live circuit. Moreover, safety switch 4 is intended to prevent the heating bodies from being energized when there exists the possibility that the heating elements might be contacted by the person in the cabin. This possibility exits, for instance, when foldable seat 5 is tilted upwardly. Safety switch 4 will. meet all of the abovemetioned requirements by the fact that in its effective position, it is mechanically coupled to the tilted downward or operative position of folding seat 5. When folding seat 5 is in its operative p9sition,

the side walls of the cabin are automatically and positively completely tilted downwardly so that the covering of the side walls is separated from the heating bodies, while on the other hand, the occupant of the cabin is, due to the arrangement of the steam producer below the folding seat, prevented from accidentally contacting the heating elements.

Folding seat 5 comprises two bars 28 which by means of joints 5a are til-table about a horizontal axis and are connected to the inside of side wall 8. When folding seat 5 has been tilted downwardly, i.e. occupies its operative position, the free ends of bars 28 may rest on corresponding supports provided on side wall 19. End 30 of the rear bar extends beyond the axis of the joints 5a and through a recess on the inside of the hollow double wall 8 into the interior thereof. In said interior there is provided a push-rod 7 which is vertically displaceable and has its lower end resting on the extended bar end 30 (FIG. 2). The upper end of push-rod 7 extends in a manner described further below into the control housing 3 and is adapted to actuate safety switch 4. In this way, the tilting movement of folding seat 5 is conveyed to safety switch 4 in such a way that the latter can be closed only when folding seat 5 occupies its entirely downwardly tilted or operative position.

The transfer of movement from push-rod 7 to safety switch 4 is in conformity with FIGS, 4 and 5 effected through the intervention of a simple wedge transmission arranged in control housing 3. This transmission primarily comprises a wedge 31 at the upper end of pushrod 7. This wedge 31 has its vertical bottom surface in engagement with a sliding plate 32 on the cabin wall while its wedge surface engages the two push-buttons 6 of safety switch 4. The upper end of wedge 31 ends in a guiding pin 33 which engages a guiding member 34 on the cabin wall, member 34 serving as guide for push-rod 7. The length of push-rod 7 is so selected that wedge 31 occupies its uppermost position shown in the drawing only when push-buttons 6 are actuated and safety switch 4 is closed. In other words, wedge 31 occupies its uppermost position only when bar end 30 is in its uppermost position, which means that folding seat 5 occupies its downward tilted position.

For returning push-rod 7 to itssw-itching-otf position with regard to safety switch 4 independently of its weight, there is provided a pressure spring 35 which rests, on one hand against a transverse pin 36 of push-rod 7, and on the other hand against an abutment fixedly connected to the housing. This return position is important when the cabin is stored in folded condition in horizontal position while the plug has not been pulled out.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a simplified design for the actuation of safety switch 4 by folding seat 5. This design is characterized by a simplified and less expensive construction and breaks the heating circuit by means of the safety switch only when folding seat 5 is tilted completely upwardly. Safety switch 4, which is arranged in the same manner as with the previously described embodiment, is designed as a two-pole rest switch, in other words, a switch which opens when its push-buttons 6 are actuated and which closes when the push-buttons are released. The arrangement furthermore comprises a cover plate 37 for the recess of the cabin wall in the control housing. This cover plate 37 has a steam-tight passage 38 in the form of a simple soft material bushing having a pressure pin 20 horizontally displaceably mounted therein. This design is, in view of its simplicity and effective seal of the control housing, particularly effective against the access of steam. The inner end of pressure pin 20 has connected thereto a plate 39 which extends over both push-buttons 6 of safety switch 4 and is connected thereto by screws, rivets, or the like. When folding seat 5 occupies its upwardly tilted position shown in FIG. 8, seat 5 directly contacts the end of pressure pin 20 which protrudes into the inner space of the cabin and thus actuates safety switch 4.

The above-described embodiments have the advantage that all switches when in effective position are spaced from the steam chamber and are combined in a control housing common thereto. The connection with the heating bodies is thus effected through customary conductors or cables 26 which are protected against access of humidity and may be arranged primarily in the cabin wall. Also the firstmentioned embodiment according to which the bar end 30 engages side wall 8 can be effectively protected against the access of steam into the control housing by the provision of simple soft sleeves, or the like.

For purposes of temperature control, there may in addition to a customary thermometer 29 extending through covering 23 also be provided a thermostat which, if so desired, may likewise be arranged in control housing 3. The temperature feeler of such thermostat may in a simple manner extend through the cabin wall into the steam chamber.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 10, the foldable seat 40 is double-walled so that the direct heating effect from the heating bodies of the heat and steam producer will be kept away from the seat proper. As supporting elements for the seat 40, the side walls of the cabin are provided with supporting rails 41 of a U-shaped profile. Said U-shaped rails 41 have their side walls provided with notches 42 adapted to be engaged by and to support the ends 44 of the seat bars 43. In this way, not only will the seat be tiltably journalled but it can also be adjusted as to its level in conformity with the size of the respective occupant.

In order to bring about an automatic switching-off of the heating elements if the cabin is not in its proper position, suitable switches may be inserted into the hinges of the side walls. If desired, the rails 41 may be connected to diaphragm-like deformable inserts on the side wall so that these inserts may be deformed either by the supporting effect of the inserted seat or by the weight of the body of the occupant and in this way may actuate the switches.

A metal screen 45 for deflecting the radiation heat from the heat-sensitive inner surface of the cabin rear wall is provided between the heating elements and the cabin rear wall. Screen'45 has mounted on its bottom side a liquid container 46 for the steam producer and at its up per side merges with a guiding plate 47. The front edge of seat 40 has linked thereto a substantially vertically hanging cove-r plate 48 which is composed of a plurality of sections tiltably connected to each other by hinges 49. When seat 40 occupies its lower positions by suspending the ends 44 in the corresponding notches 43, the lower sections 50 of cover plate 48 are angled forwardly in a horizontal plane and are flat or slightly inclined on the bottom surface. In this way, it is possible, to adapt cover plate 48 to the various levels of seat 40. The uppermost gap 51 of cover plate 48 serves for folding the cover plate together and permits a reduction of the plate height to an extent in conformity with the depth of the seat. The last-mentioned gap 51 is provided with abutments 52 which prevent a bending of the cover plate in the direction towards the heating elements below the seat.

FIG. 11 shows by way of example a control circuit for the electric heating device for use in connection with the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2. The heating elements 12 and 13 may be switched on or off individually by switches 1 and 14 respectively which have two poles and levers 11 and 18 respectively or other control elements with two resting positions. Interposed in the common conductors of both heating elements 12, 13 there is a time switc'h2 with contacts 55 having two poles, which are connected by means of a mechanical coupling member with the knurled disc 9 and the time dial 10. Interposed in the common conductors there are also a safety switch 58, a working switch with contacts 4 being open in its rest position and push-button 6. The said conductors may also have interposed therein a two-pole main switch 53 with levers 54.

It is, of course, to be understood, that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular embodirnents shown in the drawings, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A foldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a cabin having a substantially rigid rear wall and two substantially rigid side walls, said side walls being foldable relative to said rear wall so as to form therewith a relatively flat box of substantially rectangular cross section, seating means pivotally connected to one of said side walls and tiltable selectively from a substantially horizontal position into an upright position and vice versa, heat and steam producing means likewise arranged within said space and included in an electric circuit, and control switch means likewise arranged in said electric circuit, said control switch means being operable in response to said seating means occupying its substantially horizontal position to close said circuit and also being operable in response to said seating means being moved out of said substantially horizontal position to open said circuit.

2. A foldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a cabin having a substantially rigid rear wall and two substantially rigid side walls, said side walls being foldable relative to said rear wall so as to form there with a relatively flat box of substantially rectangular cross section, foldable seating means within the space confined by said rear and side walls and tiltably connected to one of said side walls and fold-able from a substantially horizontal position into an upright position and vice versa, heat and steam producing means likewise arranged with in said space and located within an electric circuit, tiltable cover plate means operable to be tilted upwardly for preventing entry into said cabin when said heat and steam producing means are not fully covered, control switch means in said circuit for controlling energization of said circuit, and coupling means coupling said cover plate means with said control switch means to permit energization of said circuit only when said cover plate means covers said heat and steam producing means.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, in which said cover plate means comprises a plurality of cover plates hinged to each other and provided with abutments for preventing said cover plate means flom being tilted in a direction toward said heat and steam producing means.

4. A foldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a cabin having a substantially rigid rear wall and two substantially rigid side walls, said side walls being foldable relative to said rear wall so as to form therewith a relatively flat box of substantially rectangular cross section, foldable seating means arranged within the space confined by said rear and side walls and pivotally connected to one of said side walls for tilting movement from a substantially horizontal position into an upright position and vice versa, heat and steam producting means likewise arranged within said space below said seating means when the latter occupies its substantially horizontal position, and heat deflecting means interposed between said heat and steam producing means and the bottom side of said heating means for deflecting the hot air flow from said seating means into the interior of said cabin, said heat deflecting means being tiltable about a horizontal axis, and means mechanically connecting said heat deflecting mean with said side walls to move said heat deflecting means from a position in front of said heating elements to a substantially horizontal position :above said heating elements in response to an unfolding movement of said side walls.

ing with each other a .[OOf'iShQPfll contour while meeting 8 along a line extending horizontally and parallel to the rear wall of said cabin.

6. An apparatus according to claim 4, in which said heat deflecting means consists of heat resistant synthetic material,

'7. An apparatus according to claim 4, which includes heat deflecting means for deflecting the heat produced by said heat and steam producing means from said seating means, said heat deflecting meang being foldably connected to said screen means.

8. A fcldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a cabin having a substantially rigid rear wall and two substantially rigid side walls, said side walls being foldable relative to said rear wall so as to form therewith a relatively flat box of substantially rectangular cross section, foldable seating means arranged within the space confined by said rear and side walls and foldable selectively from a substantially horizontal position into an upright position and vice versa, heat and steam producing means mounted within said space toward the back thereof and beneath said seating means and including electric heating elements and circuit means comprising said heating elements and also comprising at least one manually operable control switch and a time switch arranged in series with said heating elements, said manually operable control switch and said time switch being located on the outside of said cabin adjacent the upper end thereof, said circuit means also including a safety switch arranged in series with said manually operable control switch and with said time switch, and mechanical means operatively connected to said foldable seating means and operable to cause said safety switch to break the circuit for said heating elements in response to said seating means being folded out of its substantially horizontal position.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, in which said mechanical means forms a pushrod.

10. An apparatus according to claim 3, in which said mechanical means is a pull cord.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8, in which the switches are combined to a unit arranged in a switch box supported by said cabin, and which contains actuating means for said switches protruding from said switch box so as to be operable irom the outside of said cabin.

12. An apparatus according to claim 8, which includes a knurled disc operatively connected to said time switch and provided with a time scale readable from the top side of said cabin.

13. A foldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a cabin having a substantially rigid rear wall and two substantially rigid side walls connected at their back edges to said rear wall, said side walls having hinges therein near said rear walls so the side wall portions forwardly of said hinges are foldable relative to and toward said rear wall so as to form therewith a relatively flat box of substantially rectangular cross section, seating means arranged within the space confined by said rear and side walls, means for connecting the ends of said seating means to the said portions of said side walls and including means pivotally connecting one end of said seating means to one of said side wall portions to permit said seating means to be folded from a substantially horizontal position toward said last mentioned side wall portion into an upright position, heat and steam producing means mounted within said space and located at the rear of said space and below said seating means when the latter occupies its substantially horizontal position, said heat and steam producing means being disposed rearwardly of the front edge of said seating means and having a fore and aft dimension less than the spacing between said rear wall and the said portion of said side walls when the latter are folded over so the entire apparatus including said seating means and said heat and steam producing means is contained within the box formed when said side wall portions are folded over.

14 .An pp ra c ordin to claim 13 in which said means for connecting the ends of said seating means to said side walls comprises two pairs of rail means respectively connected to said side walls and provided with superimposed recesses, and said seating means being provided with extensions for selectively engaging said recesses to thereby permit the level of said seating means to be varied when the seating means is in its horizontal position.

15. A foldable hot air and steam bath apparatus, which includes: a substantially rigid rear wall and twoside walls forming with said rear wall a cabin, each of said side walls comprising a substantially rigid first section fixedly connected to said rear wall and extending at a substantially right angle thereto, each of said side walls also comprising a substantially rigid second section foldably connected to its first section, said second side wall section selectively being foldable toward said rear wall so as in folded condition to confine with said rear wall and said first sections a box having a cross sectional contour of a parallelepiped, longitudinally rigid seating means arranged within the space confined by said rear and side walls and foldable selectively from a substantially horizontal position into an upright position and vice versa, means on the insides of said second section of said side walls for engagement with the ends of said seating means to support the seating means on said side walls while also holding said second sections of said side walls in fixed spaced relation, and heat and steam producing means mounted within said space at the rear of said space and below said seating means when the latter is in its substantially horizontal position, the depth of said heat and steam producing means being within the width of said first side wall sections, whereby the entire apparatus including said seating means and said heat and steam producing means are contained within the box formed when the said second section of said side walls are folded over toward said rear wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,070,030 2/1937 Stephenson 4164 2,070,378 2/1937 Stout 4--164 2,199,285 4/1940 Fenton 128-367 3,009,165 11/1961 Washam et al. 4164 3,271,786 9/1966 Joy 4160 FOREIGN PATENTS 16,670 9/ 1894 Great Britain. 482,487 3/1938 Great Britain.

LAV-ERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FOLDABLE HOT AIR AND STEAM BATH APPARATUS, WHICH INCLUDES: A CABIN HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID REAR WALL AND TWO SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID SIDE WALLS, SAID SIDE WALLS BEING FOLDABLE RELATIVE TO SAID REAR WALL SO AS TO FORM THEREWITH A RELATIVELY FLAT BOX OF SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION, SEATING MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND TILTABLE SELECTIVELY FROM A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION INTO AN UPRIGHT POSITION AND VICE VERSA, HEAT AND STEAM PRODUCING MEANS LIKEWISE ARRANGED WITHIN SAID SPACE AND INCLUDED IN AN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT, AND CONTROL SWITCH MEANS LIKEWISE ARRANGED IN SAID ELECTRIC CIRCUIT, SAID CONTROL SWITCH MEANS BEING OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO SAID SEATING MEANS OCCUPYING ITS SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION TO CLOSE SAID CIRCUIT AND ALSO BEING OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO SAID SEATING MEANS BEING MOVED OUT OF SAID SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION TO OPEN SAID CIRCUIT. 